private partnership, and The Craig and Kathryn Hall Foundation, one of the park’s anonymous benefactors, recently took the wraps
off of a $2 million gift, hoping to spur others
to kick in. Philanthropic-minded supporters
have several options for contributing, from
joining Friends of the Park to corporate
sponsorships to dedicating a tree through the
Park Tree Trust.

Teresa Lenling, assistant director of edu-cation for the Perot Museum of Nature andScience, says joint programming will be fo-cused on engaging park visitors with interac-tive demonstrations connected to nature andscience. “The park will be a great resourcefor downtown Dallas to connect to the out-doors,” says Lenling. “We are excited to ex-tend the Perot Museum’s nature and scienceprogramming outside our walls and into thepark.”The Crow Collection of Asian Art has

The park will help transform the city’s core.

similar strategies in mind. “In many waysnature is our curriculum,” says director AmyLewis Hofland. “We look forward to expand-ing the visitor experience into the park’s land-scape with tours connected to our collectionand collaborative programming connectingnature and art.”Banta looks forward to working with hisneighbors. “We will look at partnering on an-ything cultural and free that is a good fit forthe park.” Beyond bridging geographic areas,organizations throughout the Arts Districtsee the park as a destination that will encour-age patrons to linger downtown while at thesame time attracting new audiences. Bantawill continue to partner with other surround-ing arts venues. In addition to the symphonyand museums, he envisions the students ofBooker T. Washington High School for thePerforming and Visual Arts as frequent con-tributors to the park’s lineup.

“We are always eager and interested to
explore areas of cooperation and collaboration with each of our Arts District neighbors,” says David Hyslop, interim president
and CEO of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Similarly, neighbors see the park as a
bridge to other organizations. Dr. Maxwell
Anderson, Eugene McDermott Director of
the Dallas Museum of Art, says that as the
museum begins its conservation program,
plans are afoot to interface with the Perot
Museum. Dr. Maxwell points to the DMA’s
already-strong ties to Booker T. as a prime
platform for co-programming with the park
on an educational level.

Others are seeing the benefits as tremendous. Jeremy Strick, director of the Nasher

Located in the heart of the Dallas Design District on Dragon Street

and representing contemporary artists working in multiple disciplines
to provide the serious collector a variety of quality art to select from.